very feeble little dromedary, beside stout Stuffy, who did the
elephant with ponderous propriety.

Jack Ford was a sharp, rather a sly lad, who was sent to this school,
because it was cheap. Many men would have thought him a smart
boy, but Mr. Bhaer did not like his way of illustrating that Yankee
word, and thought his unboyish keenness and money-loving as
much of an affliction as Dolly's stutter, or Dick's hump.

Ned Barker was like a thousand other boys of fourteen, all legs,
blunder, and bluster. Indeed the family called him the
"Blunderbuss," and always expected to see him tumble over the
chairs, bump against the tables, and knock down any small articles
near him. He bragged a good deal about what he could do, but
seldom did any thing to prove it, was not brave, and a little given
to tale-telling. He was apt to bully the small boys, and flatter the
big ones, and without being at all bad, was just the sort of fellow
who could very easily be led astray.

George Cole had been spoilt by an over-indulgent mother, who
stuffed him with sweetmeats till he was sick, and then thought him
too delicate to study, so that at twelve years old, he was a pale,
puffy boy, dull, fretful, and lazy. A friend persuaded her to send
him to Plumfield, and there he soon got waked up, for sweet things
were seldom allowed, much exercise required, and study made so
pleasant, that Stuffy was gently lured along, till he quite amazed
his anxious mamma by his improvement, and convinced her that
there was really something remarkable in Plumfield air.

Billy Ward was what the Scotch tenderly call an "innocent," for